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Jaime Ray Newman
|imdb = Jaime Ray Newman |twitter = @JaimeRayNewman |season1 = X |season2 = X }} Jaime Ray Newman is an American actress and singer. Newman is best known for starring as Kristina Cassadine on the soap opera General Hospital, as Kat Gardener in ABC's Eastwick, and as Dr. Tess Fontana in Syfy's Eureka. Early life Newman started performing at age 11 in the debut of Israel Horovitz's play A Rosen by Any Other Name. She worked consistently around Detroit, acting in many of the regional theaters. Newman's elementary education took place at the Jewish Hillel Day School of Metropolitan Detroit where she starred in the role of Ado Annie Carnes in the 8th grade play of Oklahoma!. After Hillel, Newman attended the private Cranbrook Kingswood School in Bloomfield Hills (also the alma mater of actress Selma Blair) and spent her summers at the Interlochen Center for the Arts where she won the Corson Award for Outstanding Achievement in Acting. While in high school at Cranbrook, she won first place in the Michigan Interscholastic Forensic Association, a state-wide dramatic competition, for three years in a row. At 16, Newman founded Apollo Theatre Productions. She rented out a theater, hired a well-known local director, professional actors and an entire crew to put up their first show. She acted as both producer and director, and found such a warm reception that she produced two more shows the following year. She graduated from Cranbrook Kingswood in 1996. Career Newman then attended Boston University's School for the Arts theater conservatory for two years before transferring to Northwestern University as an English and Drama major. At Northwestern, she founded the "Ignition Festival for Women in the Arts." Through that, she produced and acted in Paula Vogel's Pulitzer Prize-winning play How I Learned To Drive. She also discovered a love for music. While living in Chicago, she performed with her own jazz quartet along with the popular funk band. Newman officially moved to Los Angeles in September 2000. She earned a living performing with her jazz quartet, as well as landing parts in several short films and making an appearance on The Drew Carey Show. However, soon after moving, she landed the role of Kristina Carter Cassadine on the soap opera General Hospital. While there, she continued with her music career, putting together her cover band, School Boy Crush. Newman and School Boy Crush have played regularly at The Buffalo Club in Santa Monica, California, at Moomba in West Hollywood, Nick's Martini Lounge, Café Cordiale, and the Lux in Beverly Hills, covering a wide variety of music from funk and soul to R&B and blues. Most recently, they played the ESPN Awards party at The Highlands, the adjoining venue to the Kodak Theatre. She also landed a part in Steven Spielberg's Catch Me If You Can with a scene opposite Leonardo DiCaprio. In January 2003, Newman starred with David Schwimmer, Jonathan Silverman, and Tom Everett Scott in the play Turnaround, Roger Kumble's (Cruel Intentions, The Sweetest Thing) dark Hollywood satire. The play caused a tremendous amount of buzz around Los Angeles and ran to sold-out audiences for almost four months. In October 2006, Newman began an eight-episode run in a recurring role in the critically acclaimed CW show Veronica Mars. She also became a fan favorite with her appearance on Stargate: Atlantis as Lt. Laura Cadman. Along with fellow Stargate actor Michael Shanks, she appeared in the Christmas 2006 TV movie Under the Mistletoe. Other high profile guest starring roles include E-Ring, Heroes, Supernatural, Related, CSI, and Medium. Newman has appeared on NCIS, Grimm, and Castle. She starred alongside Rebecca Romijn, Lindsay Price, and Paul Gross in the 2009 serialization of Eastwick, playing Kat Gardener, a nurse and mother of five who discovers her magical powers. In 2010, she held major recurring roles in Eureka as Dr. Tess Fontana and in Drop Dead Diva as Vanessa Hemmings. In January 2011, Newman played Cynthia in David Auburn's revival of The New York Idea by Langdon Mitchell at the Lucille Lortel Theatre in New York. In 2013, she starred opposite James Van Der Beek, Kathy Baker, and Chris Mulkey in the American stage premiere of the Australian play The Gift at The Geffen Playhouse. Newman starred with Radha Mitchell in 2013 ABC midseason drama series Red Widow. Later, she was cast as a series regular in another ABC show Mind Games opposite Christian Slater and Steve Zahn.